Resonance of Madness
by Lialane Graest
Summary: They were resonating when the madness took him. She refused to let go of him, and he clung to her like a drowning man to a life preserver. Well, even life preservers can sink into the churning abyss. Mad!SteinxMad!Marie Both are lost to the madness- when he fell, he took her with him, and she went willingly to save him.
1. Falling

"Franken!" Marie's voice shrieked from her weapon form, the witch they were fighting slamming hard against the meister.

He hit the ground, Marie skidding from his grasp. The woman took human form and darted back towards the prone meister, slamming bodily into the witch, her arms wrapping around the woman's stomach as she frantically twisted her body, trying to yank the woman away from Stein. It seemed to work; the witch turning as Marie's body twisted around her.

It put Marie with her back to Stein, between the witch and the meister. The weapon screamed as a gout of energy slammed into her, causing her to collide with the meister, the two of them sliding across the hard, rocky ground. Even barely conscious Stein fought to take the brunt of the impact, trying to cushion Marie's body with his own.

Blood covered the two of them from a myriad of scrapes and scratches. A few long cuts ran across Marie's legs and Stein's back. Stein staggered unsteadily to his feet, one hand twisting the screw in his head even as the other reached out to Marie. She slipped her hand into his and a second later was in her weapon form again, resting against his arm.

"Marie, catch me."

The words hung on the air as Stein charged the witch. Marie felt his soul reach out to hers, and she let it wash over hers, wincing at the intensity of the madness that she could already feel battering against her.

"_Franken… be careful."_ A whispered plea to a man that could no longer hear her, a prayer to whoever could. She felt him draw upon Izuna, felt the electrical surge as it rushed over both of them, and she wanted to giggle.

She knew she shouldn't.

But she wanted to; something was welling up within her and she wanted to. She wanted to laugh with Stein, to let go of everything and just live in the moment, and not worry about what might be happening in the next.

She knew it was madness, leaking through their resonance.

So, while Stein fought the witch, his attacks blurringly fast and violent, his manic laughter echoing through the underground cavern, she fought against the madness, threading as much of her calming wavelength into him as she could maintain with the strain of Izuna.

The witch landed a solid blow, and Marie felt their resonance shift. Blood poured down Stein's face, his lips twisted into a sadistic grin. She tried then, she reached out to him even as he fought; she tried to drag him from the depths of the madness. Blow after blow landed, and she felt him giving into the madness more and more, even as she could feel the madness creeping over her, threatening to tear her apart. His soul clung to hers, desperation beginning to mark it. She clung desperately to his, trying to rip him out of the grasp of madness.

He blocked with her suddenly, and the pain broke her fragile concentration. With a shriek she hit her human form even as Stein's wavelength slammed into the witch one last time, destroying her. Trembling laughter flitted from the scientist as he looked down at the quivering soul in front of him, his eyes wide and vacant, his right arm hanging useless at his side.

A giggle at his side pulled the man's attention away from the soul. He stared at the woman that was sitting with her legs splayed out in front of her, her hands covering her face as she desperately fought against another giggle.

He answered with his own, kneeling down in front of her. She dropped her hands from her face and met his gaze boldly with her singular eye. A single giggle slipped out. A grin crossed his face as giggles escaped him, only to be answered by hers. A moment later they were giggling together, walking away from the scene of the battle, grins painted on both their faces.

The trembling soul behind them was soon long forgotten and unimportant.

* * *

**A/N: I don't own Soul Eater. I plan on flushing this out- it was inspired by the pic that graces the cover art for this. Major props to whoever the artist is. I wish I knew.  
**


	2. Ignorance is Bliss

"They've been gone a week!" Spirit all but shouted.

"Marie-chan and Stein-kun are more than capable of taking care of themselves, Spirit-kun." Shinigami-sama said comfortingly. "What is it that you always joke about with them? That they are simply on their honeymoon?"

Spirit fumed as he walked around the platform, Shinigami-sama watching him. "You don't get it. The mission was a day away. They've been gone 7. Something must have gone wrong!" Spirit's hands were clenched into fists and he spun sharply on his heel. "Stein would never take that long to down a single witch."

"I've sent Nygus-chan and Sid-kun out already, Spirit-kun. They should be returning soon." Shinigami-sama said consolingly, though he was itching at this point to _Reaper Chop_ the annoying death scythe.

Spirit paced for the next hour, until the door to the Death Room flew open and Sid and Nygus came rushing in. Nygus came to a standstill in front of Shinigami-sama and raised her head up high, her mouth open slightly.

"The witch soul, we found it. Nygus took it for safe keeping." Sid explained.

One of Shinigami-sama's oversized hands reached out and a glow surrounded the weapon. It seemed to concentrate in her throat and then a moment later it pulled free, the soul spinning swiftly as it flew to the reaper's waiting hand. Sid caught Nygus as she slumped.

"What about Stein and Marie?" Spirit asked desperately.

Nygus was already standing back to her feet. "We found blood, but we didn't find bodies. It looks like they defeated the witch and… just left."

There was silence in the room.

"Thank you, Nygus-chan, Sid-kun. Please, sit down if you wish. You're welcome to stay, or you're welcome to go on home." Shinigami-sama said cordially.

"We're going to head home. The last couple days have made us want to sleep in our own beds." The pair turned and left then.

Spirit turned to face Shinigami-sama.

"No."

The death scythe just stared.

"Spirit-kun, I need you here."

Spirit was silent.

"You claim to be terrified of him, but you want to search for him."

"Stein is responsible for my being the weapon that I am."

Shinigami-sama was silent. "Take a meister with you, and you can go."

Spirit looked at the reaper. "And just who is going to serve as my interim meister?"

"That is up to you to find out, Spirit-kun. I will not have my Death Scythe go off into danger without someone to wield him should it come to a fight between him and a three-star meister wielding a death scythe." Shinigami-sama turned his back on Spirit.

"You know more than you're telling me!" Spirit said suddenly.

"Find a meister and you can go. If you have to, bring me their souls, Spirit-kun." Shinigami-sama's voice was full of pain and misery, and the death scythe turned and left, a heavy weight on his soul.

* * *

He gently stroked the skin of the woman that was lying beside him. He admired the trails of stitch marks that covered her abdomen, the ones on her arms, a giggle escaping his lips as he touched the freshest set. Her gold eye opened as he did and she grinned lopsidedly at him. Her hand hooked around his arm and she pulled it to her mouth, her tongue snaking out lazily to lick at the drying blood on his fingers as his face stretched into a smirk.

It was her blood and they both knew it. They both relished it. No longer burdened with the fear of what might go wrong, he had opened her up each night. The woman had been conscious on the table for all of it, his scalpel slicing through her sensitive flesh; the sound of her moans mixing with the sound of her blood dripping to the floor.

It had been terribly arousing for both of them, and each night after he had stitched her up, he had taken her. The arrangement suited both of them very nicely. They never spoke to each other, they didn't need it. She knew what he wanted; he knew what to do to her. They complimented each other perfectly.

Unfortunately, today wasn't a stay in bed and play day, either with scalpel or bone. It was their last day in the hotel- at least that was what the annoying man had come up to the room pounding on their door and screaming. He just smirked, pulling the grinning woman against his body and nuzzled against the stitches on her neck, earning a moan and an arched back from her. He let his tongue trail out just as the banging on the door started.

A low growl escaped him as he stood and walked, naked, to the door. He opened it and glared at the man standing outside it.

"You've got to pay up or leave."

He just stared at the man, a sadistic grin growing on his face.

"Listen man; don't take this the wrong way, but put some damn clothes on and get the hell out."

He just started chuckling, which erupted into hysterical giggles. His hand lashed out, slamming into the man, his wavelength sending the unfortunate man into the wall. The man collapsed against the wall, breathing weakly, blood trickling from his mouth.

He closed the door and walked back over to the bed. She was already sitting up, her fingers tracing a trail of stitches on her flesh.

His mind turned for a moment, trying to fight for sanity as she murmured out, _"So beautiful." _He was giggling with her a second later.

* * *

Spirit sat on his couch, his head in his hands. Stein and Marie were missing; Shinigami-sama had said he could only go after them if he found a meister to wield him in the event that he had to fight Marie and Stein.

'_Damn it. Shinigami-sama knows that there is no one I can ask.'_ Spirit thought angrily. He stood and paced the living room before turning and slamming his fist into the wall. He slumped down against it; his head leaning back to stare up at ceiling. _'Who?'_

A few minutes later Spirit took a deep breath and raised a hand to knock on the door. A white haired teen opened it and looked the death scythe up and down appraisingly.

"Let me talk to her." Desperation marked Spirit's voice and Soul noticed. With another look and a sigh the boy called out for her.

Maka stood behind Soul and looked at him. "What do you want, Papa." It wasn't really a question, her tone incredibly annoyed.

"Marie and Stein are missing. I have permission to go after them on one condition."

"What's that, old man?" Soul snapped out.

"I have to have someone willing to wield me with me." Spirit said quietly and Maka's eyes went wide. "Maka… I hate to ask it of you, but there is no one else that I can."

"Like Hell. Maka and I can go look for them, and you can keep your cheating ass here." Soul said, moving to close the door.

Maka caught the door. "Soul, he wouldn't ask me if it wasn't important. Papa… I'll come with you."

Both men stared at her in surprise before Spirit gave her a huge smile. "My little Maka, thank you so much!" He took a step forward, but Soul blocked him.

"You can leave in the morning- the least you can do is let her get a good night's sleep." The teen said and Spirit nodded.

"I'll come at 6am. We have to hurry… they'll have been missing for 8 days tomorrow." Spirit said, the smile sliding off his face. Maka nodded.

* * *

"What the Hell, Maka? Are you stupid or something? You've spent all this time trying to avoid having to be around your old man and now you're agreeing to go on a mission with him? How stupid could you be?" Soul demanded once the door was shut and locked.

"He wouldn't ask if it wasn't important, Soul!" Maka shouted at him. "When was the last time he asked me anything that was actually important?"

Soul rolled his eyes. "I'm coming with the two of you."

Maka hesitated. It was true that she would be more comfortable with Soul there, but she was worried that there was a reason that they only asked her to go, and not Soul. "Soul… I don't think that that is the best idea. They asked if I would go… I think there might be a reason why Shinigami-sama would send just Papa and a meister."

"I'm your weapon. How the Hell am I supposed to protect you if I'm not there with you?" His arms wrapped loosely around her.

"Papa's a death scythe too, Soul… He'll protect me just as much as you would if he has to. And besides… you're Shinigami-sama's weapon now… not mine." She snuggled against his chest.

"I'll always be your weapon, Maka. I'll worry." Soul said softly and Maka allowed herself a smile.

The next morning Spirit picked her up early and they were off into the rising sun.

* * *

"Papa, do you have any idea where they are?" Maka asked from the passenger side of the SUV.

"We have some footage of them at a hotel a few days ago. We're going to start there." Spirit was staring straight ahead, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. "We're hoping that they're moving towards Death City."

"What if they aren't?" Maka asked, leaning forward in her seat and focusing her _Soul Perception_.

"Then we'll find them, Maka." Spirit said resolutely. Maka just nodded, pushing her _Soul Perception _to the limit.

* * *

His hand was laced around her waist, and she was leaning against him. There was a grumbling in his stomach and he heard the answering grumble in hers and he smirked. His free hand rummaged through his pockets and found a wallet, some memory sparking as he opened it and saw a picture of himself. It had a name below it and he stopped walking as he stared at it. She stopped beside him, craning her neck to look into the wallet.

"F-r-a-n-k-e-n S-t-e-i-n." She spelled out. "Fr-an-ken St-ein." Giggles poured from her. "You."

His face twisted into a smirk. "Was me." With a sly grin he pulled the ID card from the wallet and dropped it on the ground. He fished out what he remembered was used to pay for items and they walked over to a food stand.

"Two." He said, holding the card out to the man. The vendor shrugged and rung up two hotdogs, handing them to her before running the card. The vendor turned to hand it back and the couple was already gone. He looked at the name on the card and stepped out from his cart, looking for the man and woman. He didn't see them, and shook his head, hoping they would come back.

The hotdogs were devoured shortly, his hand slipping back around her waist as they wandered through the streets of wherever they were. A sudden glint appeared in her eye and she slipped out of his grasp, glancing over her shoulder at him as she bolted. Her laughter threaded through the air and he felt his own ripped out of him as he chased after her.

He came around the corner to find her with a boy pressed up against the wall, her arm a hammer and her head tilted. The boy looked familiar, but he couldn't place from where. With a smirk and a shrug he stepped beside her, both of them looking at the incredibly familiar boy.

"Professor? Ms. Marie? What are you two doing here?" The boy asked as Marie's free hand came up to tangle in his blue hair, the laughter bubbling from her throat matched by Stein's own. A sudden jerk tugged the meister to the ground and a scream came from behind them.

The couple turned as a black-haired girl came out of the crowd, a bag in her arms. "Black*Star!"

"Tsubaki, get back!" Black*Star cried out suddenly, Stein lurching into motion and slamming his fist into the girl, sending her reeling backwards and to the ground, the bag knocked away from her, its contents spilled.

His and Marie's laughter mingled together as they stood in between the pair, Marie grinning maniacally and Stein's wavelength traveling up and down his arms.

"I'm going to dissect you both," he promised to the suddenly silent air, and Marie tittered next to him.

"I want to watch," she said sweetly.

"I'll give you their hearts!" Stein shouted as he lunged at Tsubaki as she staggered to her feet, Marie's laughter goading him on.

* * *

**A/N: :) I hope that you have enjoyed this. I am really enjoying writing out their insanity together. I don't own Soul Eater.**


	3. The Chase

Marie giggled as Stein withdrew the scalpel from his pocket, and he craned his head to look over his shoulder at her; his face twisted into a sadistic grin. Tsubaki was shaking her head on the ground, still confused by what had just happened- stunned by the older meister's second attack.

Marie's face contorted into a twisted parody of her normally caring features, giggles trilling out even as she demanded, "I want them now!"

Stein's voice was a mockery of a gentleman, "As my lady demands!" Their laughter mingled in the air, the crowd having dispersed after the first attack.

"Tsubaki, smoke bomb mode!" Black*Star's voice rang out, and Tsubaki immediately complied, the area filling with smoke, obscuring both of them.

Or so they thought. Stein's voice reached a fevered intensity as Marie's laughter rang in both their ears. "I can still see you!"

Stein's fist slammed into Black*Star's stomach, knocking the young meister against the wall. Marie stood to the side as the smoke cleared; laughing so hard that she was bent double. Before Black*Star could stand, Stein was beside him, his hand slamming into the meister's stomach again. Blood flew from the assassin's mouth, and Tsubaki's scream rang through his ears.

A flash of something seemed to pass through Stein's face, and he took a staggering step backwards. _"Black*Star." _Stein's voice was scarcely more than a whisper. _"Run."_ Laughter erupted from the scientist a second later, and Black*Star barely managed to dodge the next attack.

"_Black*Star, we should listen to him."_ Tsubaki's voice came from her weapon form. _"You don't want to hurt the professor or Ms. Marie…"_

"I don't back down from a challenge. How will I surpass god if I run?" Black*Star said defiantly.

"_Not everything is done by brute force, you idiot! A god has to be smart too!"_ Black*Star back flipped away from Stein's next attack, Marie's laughter redoubling as he did so. Tsubaki was desperate to find something that would get Black*Star to leave. _"A god wouldn't risk getting others hurt over a petty squabble!"_

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, geez Tsubaki." Black*Star darted to the left. "_Speed Star!"_ The assassin shouted, and he sped up exponentially. Instead of darting towards the waiting meister though, he darted down the road. He looked over his shoulder, sticking his tongue out. "Catch me if you can!"

Sparks of memory rushed through Stein's mind, his tenuous sanity unraveling completely as Marie slid her hand into his with a smile on her face. He looked at her and she tilted her head to the side, the stitches on her neck exposed and he buried his face against them for a moment, her hand trailing up his arm to linger on the newest set of stitches that he had gained earlier.

Pain rushed through him as she dug a finger against it. _"I want their hearts. You promised."_ He welcomed the pain though, shuddering at the delicious feeling of it.

A twisted, sadistic grin contorted his features as her hand slipped down into his. "You'll have them," he promised. A moment later she was in weapon form, their souls never truly having stopped resonating. Black tendrils wrapped around his wrist and he charged after the pair that had captured his and Marie's attention.

* * *

"Papa! We have to go back!" Maka suddenly shrieked, twisting in her seat to look over her shoulder. "We're going the wrong way!"

Spirit didn't question his daughter; he just slammed the break and spun the wheel, ending up in the opposite lane, heading back towards Death City.

"They're up ahead… we must have just missed them…" Maka's eyes were closed in concentration. "They have to be resonating for me to feel their souls from this far away…" Her eyes snapped open and she leaned forward. "Oh, no…"

"Maka?" Spirit turned slightly to look at her shocked expression.

"I can feel Tsubaki and Black*Star's wavelengths too!"

Spirit pressed the pedal all the way down.

* * *

Black*Star sped out of Death City, feeling the comforting burn of his muscles in use. He could feel Stein's wavelength following him through Tsubaki, and he pushed himself faster.

_Izuna_ trumped his _Speed Star_, and Stein's hand slammed into his back, propelling the hapless meister forward and onto the desert floor. Black*Star skidded a good fifty feet, his right arm tangling underneath his body as he did so, and when he stood he could feel what had to be a broken wrist, Tsubaki falling from his limp grip.

He dodged, then skidded back to grab her in his left hand. _"Now isn't the time for showing off!"_ Tsubaki said urgently, a sound in the distance growing louder.

"I only need my left hand to defeat them!" Black*Star said arrogantly, hitting a defensive stance. "Get ready for _Shield Star,_ Tsubaki!"

"Okay!" She transformed with a flash, and when Stein and Marie came at him, Black*Star used the technique.

They pounded straight through it, knocking the meister to the ground and Tsubaki slid from his grip, taking human form. Stein's voice floated eerily through the air, almost kind in its tone. "Which do you want first, love?"

Marie's sickly sweet voice floated from her weapon form. "I want hers. I want to see the look on his face when you rip it from _her chest!"_ Her voice curved into a cackle at the end. Stein's laughter mixed with hers as he darted towards the fallen weapon.

The sound was definitely a vehicle.

Black*Star charged Stein, his wavelength surging through and being nullified by the scientist, and Stein stopped for a moment, backhanding the boy, his own wavelength rushing through Black*Star and knocking the boy back. A twisted grin split Stein's face and he advanced towards Black*Star, his concentration broken.

Marie's wasn't, however. "I want hers!" Her voice was petulant and cruel. Stein turned back to Tsubaki, who was standing now, looking desperately for something to help them.

"She wants yours first." A cruel smile twisted his features. "I'm going to dissect you now." With that he darted at the weapon.

Out of nowhere a figure slammed into him, a familiar black cross connecting solidly with the scientist. Maka nimbly backed away from the suddenly angry meister, her father held at the ready.

Spirit's voice came from the weapon. "Stein, stop this! You know who we are! You know who we all are!"

The scientist darted forward and Maka used Spirit to flip out of the way, bringing him against the meister's back. Stein stumbled then stood; a grin on his face as black tendrils wrapped around his wrist once again. He moved too fast for Maka to follow.

Three hits later she was on her knees, Spirit standing in front of her, blades sprouting from his arms. "Stein, listen to me! You know who I am!"

Marie's weapon form slammed into the death scythe, and Spirit was forced to take a step back, but he stood in front of Maka.

"Damnit, Stein!" Spirit lashed out, leaving a cut across the scientist's left arm as the other man giggled maniacally. "I don't want to have to take your souls back to Shinigami-sama!"

The name caused Stein to hesitate, and Spirit pushed on, continuing talking. "You know who Shinigami-sama is! You know who I am! I'm your Senpai! That's my daughter! Those are your students!"

"I want their hearts!" Marie suddenly screamed and Spirit could see what he had to do. Tsubaki was huddled over Black*Star's still form, but he still yelled for her, running towards her and drawing Stein away from Maka.

"Tsubaki, wield me!" The death scythe yelled as he jumped towards the girl, transforming.

She wasn't a meister, he knew that. Tsubaki nearly dropped him, but he smoothed out the wavelength without thinking of it, helping her aim, and a moment later a burst of her own soul's wavelength erupted from the end of his cross form. He hadn't had time to do this with Maka, but it was effective enough now.

It caught Marie's weapon form squarely, loosening Stein's grip on her. It must have registered as pain because Spirit watched in satisfaction as the tendrils around Stein's wrist disappeared. A moment later he was in human form, charging Stein and slamming into his former meister's stomach.

Stein flew backwards, unprepared, Marie flying from his hand. Somehow Black*Star had staggered to his feet and met Marie before she could even stand, his _Trap Star_ wrapping around the woman and capturing her.

That left just Stein to be dealt with. The man struggled underneath Spirit, hissing curses even as he struggled to twist to see Marie. "She's mine, you can't take her!"

Spirit's fist slammed into Stein's jaw.

"She's mine!" Spirit could see it, the sanity lingering just beyond Stein's reach, and he knew it was there because he wasn't being pelted with Stein's wavelength. He pulled back and punched the meister again.

Stein's feet planted in Spirit's stomach, and launched the death scythe backwards. Spirit landed, skidding as Maka stumbled to her feet, blinking.

"Papa?" Maka called out as her eyes focused. "Papa!"

Spirit hit his feet, desperate to keep Stein's attention off Maka. The scientist wasn't moving though. His gaze was captured by the sight of Marie entangled in Black*Star's trap, her manic laughter flitting through the air as he suddenly lurched into motion, charging towards Black*Star.

Maka ran then, and Spirit transformed when he got close enough, his daughter catching him. With a wince he felt her soul reach out, and he resonated with her. His cross form gave way to his bladed scythe, and he felt the blade catch Stein's lab coat, the man twisting out of the way, laughter bellowing from him.

"She's mine, not yours!" Stein screeched as he swung at Black*Star.

It passed through the image; the image melting out and revealing Tsubaki. She gave a sad smile as Black*Star's voice rang out, "Black*Star Big Wave!"

Stein's body jerked as Black*Star's wavelength rushed into the unprepared man, and he hit his knees. Spirit's blade was at his throat a moment later, Marie laughing behind them.

"Let me see his heart then! He said he'd give it to me anyway!" The death scythe crowed out happily.

A trembling hand reached up to twist the screw in his head, and Stein looked up to meet Maka's eyes, but he looked at the weapon she was wielding. "Senpai?" A moment passed when no one spoke. "Did I… did I do something to Soul, Maka?"

"Professor!" Maka cried out, and Spirit took his human form. "I'm so glad that you're alright now!" She dropped to her knees and hugged the meister. Stein just blinked and looked up at Spirit who gave him a sad smile.

"Welcome back, Stein." Spirit glanced over his shoulder. "Now we just have to hope that we can do something for Marie."

The woman in question was giggling happily while glaring at Maka. When Maka looked up Marie said sweetly, "He's mine, bitch. Keep your hands to yourself, k?"

* * *

**A/N: As you can tell, I am a believer that weapons can wield other weapons- take Liz and Patty for example. As Spirit is known for his ability to manipulate wavelengths, I believed that this would be plausible. Also, he **_**does**_** shoot a beam of wavelength when he is in his cross-form.(Manga, which this is based on, hence the Shinigami-sama and Shibusen references :))  
**

**I don't own Soul Eater. Hope you enjoyed!  
**


	4. Save Me

Stein sat staring in the window to Marie's cell. The woman was sitting on her bed, her back to the corner. Her eyes were wide and darted around the room. He had been watching her for hours now, listening to her outbursts, hearing her scream for him. She didn't call him by name, but he knew that the screams were for him nonetheless.

Spirit stood beside him at this point in time, the other man's hand resting gently on Stein's shoulder. "You need to get some rest and eat, Stein."

The scientist didn't respond, he just sat staring at Marie. He could see the fractures in her soul, chinks that he had never noticed before. Spirit's hand tightened on Stein's shoulder.

"That's not a request, Stein. I'll have you escorted if I have to." Spirit's voice was firm.

"_What have I done?"_ Stein's voice was broken and quiet and Spirit looked down. _"Is this how she feels when I fall to the madness? Is this what I have put her through each time we've had to fight and I've slipped? What have I done?"_

There were no tears in the man's eyes; there was no emotion on his face, yet Spirit could sense the turmoil raging in the man's soul. Stein shrugged off Spirit's hand and moved to the window.

Marie could see him now for the first time since they had been captured. In an instant she had darted off the bed and her hands were pushed against the glass. Giggles leaked around the edges of the door, her eyes alight and bright. Her grin stretched nearly ear to ear and Stein winced at the stitches that he could see on her neck. Fractured memories, snapshots of sanity, flooded over the man and he shuddered as he half-remembered other stitches on her pale flesh.

Suddenly Marie's face fell and her voice was pitiful, tugging at Stein's fragile sanity, threatening to devour it and pull him back down with her into the swirling depths of madness that they had both been happily treading in. The giggles were mercifully missing for the time being.

"_Save me…"_ There were tears in her eye as she leaned her forehead against the glass, misery etched over her features.

For a brief moment Stein thought that she had regained some of her sanity, and then her head jerked up and she was cackling at the two people, her voice having lost its pitiful tone and was now high pitched and sing-songy.

"They're going to eat me if you don't, they'll tear me to shreds and feed my heart to their dogs! They'll take away what I am now! You have to save me!" Laughter leaked through the cracks in the doors again and Stein's hands clenched into fists, his body trembling violently.

"Stein, leave." Spirit's voice was firm and to accentuate his point he stepped between Stein and the window, pushing the other man backwards. The eyes that flicked down towards Spirit weren't completely sane.

Marie's voice screamed out for help again and her leaking laughter was echoed by Stein's own. Marie's soul was desperately reaching for his, and like the drowning man he was, his instinctively grabbed for it.

Spirit tackled him, knocking the taller man off balance and backwards, out of sight of the woman cackling inside the room. Stein's fist came up and Spirit grabbed it, using momentum to carry them both down the hallway and away from Marie.

Stein's eyes were wild as they collapsed on the floor. The noise brought guards who pulled both men to their feet; Stein was panting and tense as the guards held him, his eyes darting from side to side. Spirit just brushed them off and stood almost glaring at Stein.

"Get him out of here. Keep him away from Marie. Don't let either of them see each other, if he gives you problems, put him in a cell." The death scythe's voice was cold as Stein stared wide eyed over the man's shoulder.

He didn't hear the orders Spirit gave though, as the guards bodily moved him away from her, her laughing screams echoing through the corridors of his mind.

Once Stein was out of sight around the corner Spirit slammed his fist into the wall, fighting the tears that were threatening to fall. _'Damnit, what in Death's name are we going to do?'_ Spirit wondered miserably.

* * *

Stein sat in the cell they had left him in, himself again. His face was in his hands, his elbows propped against his knees. He wasn't crying; he wasn't sure what he was doing.

Worrying?

Yes, that sounded right, he decided. He was worrying about Marie, and about what had almost happened.

'_I could have killed Senpai then. I felt it. I could feel Marie's soul grasping for mine, and I couldn't reject it." _Stein shook his head, as he sat upright and turned the screw in his head, trying to banish the last of her hysterical laughing screams from his mind. _"What have I done to Marie?"_

The door opened and he looked up at Spirit.

"Senpai, I'm sorry." Stein said quickly. "I… I don't know what happened."

"I know, Stein. We're going to have to keep the two of you separated. Shinigami-sama himself has declared that. He thinks that if he can keep you two apart, it'll break any residual resonance and let Marie come back to herself sooner rather than later." Spirit said, leaning against the now closed door.

Stein nodded. He could still feel Marie in the distance. "I should leave. Go back to the Lab. Put distance between us."

The words carried a double meaning and both men knew it. Both were well aware of Marie's feelings for Stein- feelings that Stein had shared his doubts with Spirit that he would be able to return, claiming that he couldn't understand love.

Spirit just sighed. "You're right, Stein. It's not going to be easy."

The scientist looked at the death scythe. "It's for her own good… I'm… I'm damaged."

Spirit gave a sad smile. "She's a woman; they think we all are, and she's still going to try to fix whatever she sees. You're going to have to be careful, Stein, once she's herself again."

Stein stood and nodded. "I'll make sure that this doesn't happen again, Senpai," he moved to the door and Spirit opened it. Stein brushed past him without another word and walked away from Marie and towards the Lab he called home.

* * *

She sat in the cell, her feet dangling over the side of the bed as she sobbed. She could feel him leaving her alone here. He had stayed the whole time she had been here, had always been close by. Now he was leaving, and she was terrified that they would kill her, that they would eat her up.

She needed him to save her, and he was walking away from her. He was leaving her. He wasn't going to come back. He was going to abandon her.

She screamed.

Stein heard her from where he was, the sound reverberating through his very soul. The sound was primal and sent shudders through his body; every fiber of his being wanted to run back to her, to stop whatever it was that was causing the woman so much pain. It was an instinctive reaction, but Stein wasn't a man of instinct. He was a man of science.

He walked on as the woman behind him kept on screaming.

She grew hoarse long after he had disappeared and she could no longer feel him. She had continued screaming long after that. Her sobs now were ragged and broken, the woman collapsed onto the floor. Spirit looked in the window, and the woman looked up at him, hatred in her eyes.

In a voice that sent chills down Spirit's spine she hissed, _"I'm going to tell him that you're the one that took me away from him and he'll give me your heart on a silver platter."_

Spirit slid the covering over the window and finally let the tears fall down his face for what had happened to two of his best friends. He walked off hoping that Marie would be able to cobble her sanity back together.

* * *

**A/N: What can you do for someone who has snapped when they were the person that everyone had thought would be immune to the Madness? Also, have you caught onto my little trick with their Madness? It's nothing big, just wondering if anyone has caught what I am doing :)**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	5. Can She Come Home?

She screamed on and off for the rest of the night. When Spirit opened the door to bring her food to her the next morning she sat facing the corner sobbing. Spirit closed his eyes briefly, well aware that the woman had divested herself of all of her clothing, her hands currently running over a network of stitches on her skin as tears fell down her cheek. His entrance must have startled her, because she whirled to look at him before huddling back into the corner.

"Marie?" Spirit's voice gently called and her head just lowered, her arms wrapping around her knees as she continued to stare at the corner.

"_Help me,"_ her voice was broken and hoarse. _"He left me alone. I just want to see him. I don't want you to eat me. I'm scared of you."_

Spirit sighed. "We're not going to eat you, Marie."

"That's what you do! That's what you all do!" The woman shrieked as she darted off the bed, her hair fanning out behind her. Her arm transformed as she came near him and he took a step back. "You're like the others, just like the others! You've eaten hundreds of people, haven't you?! You'll eat me too!"

A bladed arm met her hammer transformed one, the plate of food falling to the floor as Spirit was forced to take another step backwards.

"Damnit, Marie! Focus! You're one of the others! Don't you see what you're doing? You're a weapon! You're a death scythe just like I am!" There was a spark of recognition in the woman's eyes even as she drew her arm back and swung again, colliding with Spirit.

Spirit skidded backwards, slamming into the door. He moved quickly, shutting it behind him, and locking himself in the room with Marie. A moment later he heard the guards pounding on the door and muffled shouts coming through. He almost didn't duck the next blow. It slammed into the door and the heavy door rattled in its frame, catching Marie's attention.

A giggle escaped from the woman and Spirit took a quick second to assess his situation. Marie was obviously still lost, and she was also naked. He could see Stein's handiwork spread across the woman's body; stitches covered parts of her abdomen, arms and neck. Hoping it wasn't a mistake Spirit dismissed his blade and stepped into the middle of the room, hurriedly gathering up her clothing while the woman was giggling about the door.

"I'll make you a deal, Marie."

The woman's head craned over her shoulder.

"Put on your clothing and I promise I won't eat you."

A flash of light heralded her arm's return to normal. "You will bring me him or him me?" She asked as she reached tentatively out to take her clothing.

"When you're feeling better." The response seemed to satisfy the woman.

"You have to promise. You have to promise me like he would." Spirit froze as she strolled over to him, stretching her naked body up against his, her hand curling around his head and threading into his hair, her face rising to his.

"Let's not give Ste- him a reason to kill me. I promise when you're feeling better I'll let him see you." Spirit said, swallowing thickly and pulling away. A pout crossed the woman's face, but she moved to dress.

Spirit gave a sigh of relief as he slipped out of the door, closing it behind him and relocking it. A handful of angry guards were waiting outside, and he felt their hands pulling him out of the room before he had even stepped out completely. The door was shut quickly and the lead guard spoke harshly.

"Death Scythe, sir, that was incredibly dangerous. She's a captive." Spirit just jerked his arm away from the guard.

"I'm well aware of _who_ is in that room. Her name is Marie Mjolnir and you will use it when you refer to her. She is a death scythe, not a common criminal or a witch. She needs our support right now." The death scythe's tone was just as harsh.

"She could have killed you." The comment was quiet, and came from one of the other guards, but Spirit wasn't sure which.

"Marie will not kill me. I am Shinigami-sama's personal weapon. That should stand for something." Spirit walked off in a huff, his dress shoes clicking on the floor.

* * *

Stein sat with his head in his hands in front of the computer. He hadn't slept the previous night, his head too full of disturbing memories that he was somehow dredging from the days that they had spent insane and together. He believed that it was because of Marie's wavelength that he remembered as much as he did.

It wasn't a blessing.

He shuddered as he remembered opening her up. Things went fuzzy after the first few incisions, but he could still hear her laughter, her moans. He didn't want to remember, but turning the screw wouldn't even erase the memories, wouldn't let him block them out either. A trembling hand lit the cigarette that was perched precariously in his mouth and he took a long drag on it, hoping to calm his shaking nerves.

Something twinged in his memory, and he tried to grasp it even as he tried to forget it. It was an unfamiliar sound, one that he couldn't place, but it was obviously Marie's voice making it. Another crank of the screw brought a blessed relief from that memory.

* * *

Spirit returned a few hours later with another tray of food. He entered Marie's room to find the woman dressed and sitting on the bed, her hands on the bed and holding onto the edge beside her hips.

"Marie?"

The woman glanced up at him, but her eye was wild. "You've come to eat me for misbehaving."

"I've come to feed you." Spirit glanced at the previous plate, glad that it had just been a sandwich. A motion to one of the guards and they darted in, cleaning up the mess quickly while he moved to Marie. The woman looked up at him, and he realized that for a brief moment she was sane.

"Marie?"

"Spirit…" a flitting laugh. "I'm sorry for whatever I've done…"

"Marie, stay here. Listen to me, keep your focus." Giggles were creeping out from her mouth again and she looked down at her feet, her body shaking.

"Where's Franken?" Her voice cracked a bit and he watched as she shuddered. "Did I… hurt him?"

"Stein is fine, Marie. He's waiting on you to get better. Stay focused!" Spirit exclaimed suddenly, the woman slipping into giggles and pulling her legs back up to her chest on the bed.

She laid her head on her knees and looked over at him. "I know he's waiting on me. He's always going to be waiting on me." The smile on her face was disturbingly sweet.

Spirit's hand grabbed her shoulder, and shook her. "Marie, damnit, focus! Stein is waiting for you! Not this 'he'! _Franken_ is waiting on you!"

A gold eye met his and he pushed on. "You know that Stein is waiting on you to come back to yourself, just like you've done for him. He's waiting at the Lab for you, Marie."

The smile on her face crumpled as a tear fell down her cheek. "He…"

"Stein."

"He… is waiting."

"Stein is waiting for you." Spirit pushed, his hand still holding her shoulder.

"Franken is waiting… for me… to… to…" her face contorted briefly and he nodded, watching as tears fell.

"Stein wants you to come home to him, Marie." Spirit said gently.

Tears streamed down the woman's face. "I want to go home, Spirit…"

"Marie, I need you do something for me, while you're thinking straight, can you do that?" Spirit's plan was simple, but it may not work, and he needed her as sane as possible.

A brief nod.

"Focus on your healing wavelength, Marie." Spirit ordered and he watched as the woman's eye went wide.

Spirit Albarn was famous for his ability to manipulate wavelengths, and as he felt hers expand he grabbed it and twisted with all his might, turning the wavelength back on her. It was immensely tiring and he wished that he had Stein with him to help mitigate the strain.

It could have been hours or minutes before both of them came back to the world as they knew it; Spirit exhausted from the strain of maintaining the wavelength of another weapon, Marie worn out and tired from her internal struggle.

But she was sane when she collapsed against the other death scythe.

* * *

Stein had finally succumbed to sleep when they brought Marie home. He was in his research lab, his head resting on the keyboard, the j key stuck in a down position and thousands of the letters on the open document. His breathing hitched occasionally in his sleep, and his hands spasmed. Spirit entered first, leading Marie and she immediately turned to go towards the Lab.

"Marie?" Spirit called out after her.

"Where do you think he'll be, Spirit? In bed? In the kitchen? He's in the lab," she said with a smile as Spirit followed her.

She stepped into the lab, moving unerringly towards the computer and smiled when she found Stein asleep over it. She rested her hand on his shoulder, Spirit standing a few feet away. Stein jerked at her touch, green eyes opening and blinking quickly.

"Marie?" Stein glanced over her shoulder at Spirit, doubt on his face.

"I'm home, Franken. I'm sorry I left."

To both Marie and Spirit's surprise Stein wrapped his long arms around the woman and pulled her into his embrace. "I'm sorry I allowed you to. It won't happen again, Marie."

* * *

**A/N: Welcome back to sanity, Marie.**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	6. Madness Doesn't Come With Protection

Spirit slipped out of the room once Stein had embraced Marie, shaking his head. Apparently their discussion had already been forgotten by Stein. He pulled the metal door shut behind him as he left the lab, a yawn escaping him as he realized that he hadn't slept much in the last few days thanks to the events. With heavy steps he climbed into his car and headed home.

* * *

Stein sat with his head leaning against Marie and his arms loosely threaded around her until he felt her pull away from him slightly. He looked up at her, and his eyes focused on the stitches on her throat. His hand lifted to sit lightly against them and she finally spoke.

"There are more," she said quietly. He just looked at her and she stepped backwards from him. She slipped her shirt off and stood in front of him in just her skirt and bra. He didn't process that though; all he could see were the rows of stitches on her skin- the marks that marred her beauty.

"Marie… I'm…" his voice failed him and he looked her in the face. "I'm sorry."

She smiled at him. "I don't remember it. I don't remember anything until I was talking with Spirit this morning… I can't forgive you for something I don't remember doing, and something you don't remember doing. But I can't be mad at you," she laid her hand against one of the stitches and gave a nervous laugh as she looked down at it. "I should be careful what I wish for in the future though."

He stood and stepped to her, his hands touching the stitches gently as he looked at them. "What did you wish for, Marie?"

Her face was beat red when he looked up and she bit her lip. "I wished to be closer to you."

A dry chuckle escaped him as he looked back down at the trail of stitches. "Perhaps you should be more careful, Marie. Or be more specific."

* * *

He stood outside her door a few hours later, looking at her wavelength. The chinks he had seen were filled in again and she seemed to be doing fine. She was sleeping comfortably and he let himself sigh. Seeing the incisions and the careful stitching had brought a rush of memories back, and he just shook his head at them, twisting the screw in a vain effort to clear them from his mind.

He could still remember the sounds she had made as he cut into her and his hand itched as he wondered how much of that was madness and how much of it was actually Marie. He cranked the screw in his head again, futilely trying to erase the urge and he forced himself to return to his room. He let exhaustion creep over him as he sat on the edge of his bed, his hands in his lap. He looked up to make sure he had locked the door to his room and nodded.

He dreamed that night, lying in bed, of what had happened while they were both lost together. He dreamt of moments of where he was certain that he was experiencing something other than madness, or at the least, a different type of madness. He dreamt of looking down at Marie from a position above her, the woman's back arched and her neck exposed to him. He dreamt of sounds; sounds that she had made, sounds that he had made, and some shared between the two of them, none of them quite words yet speaking volumes.

He woke the next morning tired and confused, the dream slipping easily from his tenuous grasp on consciousness.

* * *

The next few weeks passed easily. Spirit checked in on them nearly daily, and Marie's stitches came out. The incisions would definitely scar, but at least the stitches were out. She smiled more each day and, curiously enough to Stein, seemed to trust him even more than she had before.

He knew that he didn't deserve her trust, but it didn't stop a certain part of him from feeling happy about it. He spent less and less time around her though, and gradually they fell back into their old habits. He would wake to the smell of coffee drifting into the lab and she would occasionally find herself in her own bed when she knew that she had fallen asleep on the couch.

* * *

"How are you two doing?" Spirit asked from where he sat on the couch that Marie was certain that she had fallen asleep on last night but she had woke up in her own bed.

She smiled, her stomach nauseous for some reason. "We're doing great, Spirit."

"Is that so, Stein?" Spirit asked, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees as he looked at the scientist who was sitting quietly beside Marie.

His cologne seemed to rush at Marie and she felt her stomach rise up in protest to the smell, bile wanting to rush up her throat. She wanted to vomit.

'_Spirit's cologne has never bothered me before…'_ she thought to herself, a bit confused. She missed Stein's response, but Spirit had sat back, taking his cloud of cologne with him. She breathed a little easier, only to realize that the smell of cigarette smoke that clung to Stein was cloyingly powerful and was making her nauseous as well.

She also realized that she could smell the antiseptic that Stein kept in the lab; that it seemed to be wafting off of the scientist in waves. She stood suddenly.

"I'll be right back. I just need to grab something to drink. Does anyone else want something?"

"No thank you, Marie." Stein's response was automatic, and Spirit just shook his head.

Spirit waited until the woman had left the room and leaned in again. "Is everything really alright, Stein? You seem kind of out of it. Have you been getting enough sleep?"

"I've been dreaming. It's something that I don't care to do, yet I can't avoid them recently. It's enough that I've considered experimenting to see if I can remove the section of my brain that would produce dreams." Stein said as he leaned back and away from Spirit.

"That's a bit extreme over just a few dreams." There was clear concern painted on Spirit's face.

"I didn't say it was a few dreams. It's been every time that I've slept since Marie and I," there was a slight pause here, "found ourselves again."

"It had to have been traumatic. You'll get over it, right? It was just traumatic," Spirit said nervously.

"I'm sure you're right Senpai. I'm just not used to dreaming. They'll stop eventually." Stein had his doubts though. If anything, the bits that he could remember were becoming more graphic instead of becoming easier to handle.

All of them were about him and Marie. Specifically, about what he might have done to Marie. He refused to believe that they were anything more than dreams.

They couldn't be memories. Not from when he was lost. He didn't remember when he was lost in the madness. It was the only good thing that happened during that time.

Her wavelength couldn't have affected him that much. Could it?

Stein cranked the screw in his head as Marie came back in with a cup of tea. He could smell the ginger as she sat down and he just lifted his eyebrow a bit, but didn't say a word.

Spirit stayed for a while longer talking. Marie began to yawn and Spirit just laughed, saying he should leave. She told him it was nice of him to visit and that she didn't mind. He and Stein got into a conversation and Marie slipped off to sleep, neither man realizing it until Spirit asked her a question and she didn't answer.

It was then that Stein noticed that her head was leaning against his right shoulder, the cup of tea balanced precariously on her knee. Her lips were parted slightly and her eye was closed. He just looked up at Spirit and the other man nodded.

"I'll see you some other time. Take care of her."

"I will. You can let yourself out I trust?" Spirit just nodded and Stein waited until he had left before gathering Marie up and taking her to bed.

* * *

A surgeon's hands held blonde hair away from the woman's face. She was currently retching into the toilet everything she had eaten the night before. She was pale and there was a sheen of sweat on her forehead as she heaved again, her back arching as she did.

"You must have eaten something last night that didn't agree with you," he murmured quietly.

She just sat there with her head hung over the toilet for a moment before replying, "I ate the same thing that you did yesterday, Franken… Maybe I'm just getting sick…"

His hand gathered her hair while the other slipped around to press his wrist against her forehead. A small frown crossed his face. "There's no fever, Marie. If anything, you're cooler than you should be. If you think you can stand moving, you should brush your teeth and gargle, and then I'll take you back to bed."

She just nodded weakly and he helped her to her feet. She clutched the sink for dear life as her world spun. A long moment later she did as instructed and turned to walk to the door. He stopped her and deftly lifted her off her feet, carrying her back to her bed. He left the room just long enough to get her something for the vomiting and she was asleep before he came back.

Stein smirked a bit as he withdrew the syringe from his pocket and slid it into her arm carefully. He withdrew the syringe gently without waking his patient and looked at the small vial of blood he had drawn. Pulling the blankets up and over the woman he left the room, walking slowly to his lab, staring the whole time at the blood sample.

* * *

"You're not sick," Stein said simply. Marie was still curled up into a small ball in the middle of her bed.

"How can you be so sure?" Marie's voice was miserable.

"I ran tests. I am a doctor," Stein smirked.

She didn't rise to the bait and just curled deeper into the blankets.

* * *

The next morning found them in the same position. Marie had woke him when she started heaving again, and he found himself holding her hair back, an intense curiosity running through him. She showed no other symptoms and he couldn't figure out what was causing it.

Or what caused her almost miraculous recovery by noon.

Or the fact that the process kept repeating itself for the next week or so.

* * *

He was in the middle of looking at little known diseases when she came into the lab, and he could feel the uncertainty in her wavelength before he even turned to look at her. She was holding something behind her back when he did and a flash of memory sparked through his mind.

He _remembered_ being above her and looking down at her, lost in something other than madness.

"Marie?"

She bit her lip and took a deep breath before holding the white stick in her hands out to him.

"Franken… I'm pregnant."

* * *

**A/N: So... madness doesn't come with protection. How will they react?  
**

**I don't own Soul Eater, just the crazy pseudo-plot that I'm using.  
**


	7. Revelations

Stein's stammered response to her sudden announcement only made matters worse. "Who… whose is it?"

Her hands clenched into fists at her sides, and tears streamed down her cheeks. "Who the hell do you think the father is?! It's not like I've brought random men home, Franken! The only person it could be is you- you're the only person I've been alone with!"

Memories crashed down over the scientist almost as if her speaking aloud what he had been worrying about was the key to opening the gate. He _remembered_ slicing her skin open almost delicately, placing each stitch with a kiss on the incision. He _remembered_ tasting her blood, and the sound of her moans as he did so. He_ remembered_ the growing need that had consumed them both.

He _remembered _looking down at her as his hips bucked almost uncontrollably against hers. He could still hear the sounds of her panting cries, feel the euphoric pleasure that he had never before experienced. He could still _feel _it. His green eyes met her tear filled gold one, and words failed him as a trembling hand cranked the screw in his head over and over.

A long silence passed before Stein finally spoke. "I… raped you…"

All of the anger in Marie's expression vanished as Stein's stony façade crumpled with his utterance, emotions for once playing across his face. Her response was quiet, yet it echoed in the silence of the lab. _"No…"_

Tears were still streaming down her face as she lowered her head, and her hand rested on her stomach as she took an uncertain step towards him. "I… I may not remember it… but something tells me I was more than willing at the time…"

Stein's mind kicked into overdrive, memories rushing back the closer that Marie got to him. Every bit of him screamed at him to move away, to get away from her, to stop the onslaught of Madness induced memories. He forced himself to stand still and endure. It was the least that he could do for her, after what he had done to her.

A moment later she was leaning against his chest, tears staining his lab coat as he awkwardly held her; she trembled in his grasp even as his mind reeled under the weight of the memories that were being released.

* * *

"What do you mean, Marie's pregnant?" Spirit's voice was incredulous, the man staring in disbelief at Stein.

"Blood work confirmed it. Marie's pregnant, and from what she guesses, probably about 5 weeks along."

"That means…"

"Yes, at the time we were missing." Stein didn't meet Spirit's eyes, and instead looked down into his coffee cup, idly swirling the liquid in the beaker before sitting it down on the coffee table that was sitting between him and Spirit in the room of the lab Marie had dubbed their sitting room.

"Are… you?" Spirit couldn't even form a complete sentence at this point.

"I have to wait until about the 10th week of pregnancy to perform any kind of paternity test." Stein guessed at the nature of the question.

"What if it isn't yours?" Spirit leaned forward, his face animated and his elbows resting on his knees. "Who knows if the two of you spent the entire time together? And what if it is?"

"Mine or not… it is definitely Marie's. She's my weapon partner, so I suppose she'll remain living at the lab with me… and… we'll raise it." Stein's head lifted and he finally met Spirit's gaze.

The weapon's mouth was hanging open, before it closed with a devious smirk. "She'll make you marry her if it is."

"I'm aware of that, Senpai. Marie has always been adamant about wanting a family and becoming married. Though, I never imagined that I might be the one that would be fulfilling that." Stein resumed idly swirling the cold coffee in his beaker, and leaned back against the purple couch, his head facing the ceiling.

Spirit just chuckled. "You're the only one who couldn't. Wonder if it'll be a boy or a girl?"

Stein was just silent, glancing up at the ceiling on occasion and watching Marie's wavelength as Spirit prattled excitedly on.

* * *

Marie sat in her room knowing that Stein and Spirit were downstairs talking and curled up on her bed, crying. She lay there until the sun had disappeared from her window and her room was dark, eventually running out of tears. Her throat was dry, and she could feel the tear tracks that covered her cheek underneath her good eye. Her hands wrapped around her still flat stomach and a strangled sob escaped, even though there were no more tears left to cry.

She was too absorbed to hear the footsteps that quietly crossed the floor of her room, only realizing that someone had entered when she felt weight on the bed and hands tugging at her shoulders. She just kept her eyes closed, leaning against the body that had pulled her against it.

Stein's voice came from the darkness, "You're not supposed to be upset. I thought that this is what you wanted, what you've talked about for years. You're going to be a mother."

Marie didn't answer, just kept quiet and rested against his body, uncertainty racing through her soul. He sat holding her as she occasionally hiccupped a sob against him until she had fallen asleep. He sat there even after that, his arms wrapped loosely around the woman that was slumbering against his chest- the woman that might be carrying his child.

Eventually he grew tired, and the scientist disentangled himself from the woman and slipped out of the room. Her arm stretched out after him in her sleep, searching for him and a small whimper came as his warmth slowly dissipated.

* * *

The next morning dawned and Marie sighed as she got dressed, ready for the day even though she knew it was going to be a long one. She moved to her door to open it and frowned as she realized that she heard thumping.

It was coming from Stein's research lab.

The thumping stopped before she got to the end of the hallway leading to it and she broke into a sprint, flinging the door open.

It was empty.

She stood, confused, and heard the thumping restart, coming from further down the hall. She darted back out of the research lab and down the hall, following the sound of the thumping and stopped in the middle of the hall when she saw Stein. She doubled over laughing and he looked over at her.

He was covered in sweat, and his lab coat was missing. His glasses were on crooked, and his hair had matted to his head a bit because of the sweat. There were circles under his eyes and she wondered how much sleep he had gotten the night before.

But what was so funny about it was that he was dragging a crib through the lab, a sour look on his face. She tried to stop laughing but couldn't, and he just stood there staring at her. She finally calmed down enough and he spoke.

"Blame Spirit. Apparently this was Maka's. He's kept this all that time, and decided that you and I would need it. He dropped it off and then left, saying that he wasn't going to step foot in the lab with me "in a mood" as he put it." Stein's voice was flat.

"I can help you," Marie said as she moved towards the crib. Stein just shook his head.

"No. You're not going to be doing anything stressful."

"I'm only 5 weeks pregnant, not 9 months!"

"Regardless, you'll not be doing anything stressful for the next 9 months Marie," there was a bit of a smirk on his face now, "I am a doctor after all, so I do know what I am talking about."

* * *

A month and a half later Marie was curled up on her bed again, crying. Stein stood in the doorway, wondering why the news would bring her to tears. He simply couldn't understand why it would make her sad. He hesitated in the door, listening to what he thought were sobs, before clearing his throat.

Marie looked up from where she had buried her face in her pillow, and Stein was a bit surprised to see the grin that was painted over her face. Her soul had been too erratic for him to properly read the emotions that were swirling through it, and he had mistaken her muffled laughter for sobs.

"Something amusing?" He asked from the door.

"Just relief."

"Relief?"

"Think about it, Franken. The answer could have been, "Well, it's not me," or "Must have been that biker at the café," but it wasn't." Her smile was radiant. "It was you. I don't have to worry about who the father is anymore. It's relieving."

Stein smirked. "Only you would be happy to find that you are pregnant with my child."

"I'm not happy I'm pregnant." Stein's smirk fell from his face as quickly as Marie's smile did. "I never imagined that I would get to be a mother like this. I… would have at least liked to remember getting knocked up. I never drank enough to get drunk because I didn't want to be in this situation when we were in school." She gave a nervous laugh. "I always thought that I'd be married and living in a yellow house with a white picket fence and maybe flowers out front, not in a stitched up lab without a husband."

Stein just twisted the screw in his head. "Yes, it does seem a bit different from what you had imagined, Marie."

She gave a sigh though and laid her head back down on the pillow. "Ah, well. I'll survive. Though I still hold that I can at least do some training."

"No." Stein's tone brooked no argument.

"I'm not going to break, Franken."

"I'm aware of that, Marie."

"Then why am I not allowed to do anything?!" She raised her head from the pillow.

Stein just smirked. "Because you and _our_ child are under my care. I won't see anything happen to you due to my negligence of keeping you safely away from any stressors. Even were it not mine, it would be the same. I am aware of how impulsive you can be."

Marie just stared blankly at him from the bed and he chuckled.

"Perhaps I will find something that you can do, Marie."

* * *

**A/N: Overly-protective Stein? Yes please :)**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	8. Sensitivity

"We can do some light training." Stein finally relented. "I know that you don't want to get out of practice, and it will do good to make sure that we're still able to resonate properly."

The woman grinned. "Thank you."

"Light training, Marie- nothing strenuous and nothing later than your 5th month of pregnancy."

"Something is better than nothing, Franken! I'm not even showing yet."

His gaze roamed up and down her body.

"You are barely."

She laughed as she threw the empty bottle she held in her hand at him. He dodged easily, but she caught the ghost of a smirk that crossed his face as he did.

* * *

"Focus, Marie."

The weapon in his hand bristled slightly. Their resonance was off. One of the two of them was out of sync, and even with Stein's wavelength they couldn't achieve a full resonance.

"I'm trying."

"Just relax and focus."

"Why don't you?" she snapped.

"Don't let your hormones interfere," he chided.

The woman sighed. It was their third day of training in just over a week, and they still hadn't managed it. It wasn't like she wasn't trying. Something was just… different. She couldn't put her finger on it though, and whatever it was was what was causing the issues.

Stein's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

"There's a possibility that it's our child's soul that is throwing the resonance off."

"What?"

"I know that you don't have _Soul Resonance_ but let me assure you that our," Marie caught the slight pause, "child has a soul. It could be interfering with our ability to resonate properly. We simply have to compensate for it. And not bring it into the resonance."

"But how?"

"I don't know, Marie."

She relaxed slightly and took a deep breath. "I guess we'll find out together then."

* * *

A week later they managed it, though both were tired and worn out from the mental strain. Stein had suggested multiple times that they just wait, but Marie had been adamant that they keep at it, in case something happened and they were forced into combat. They were still an active meister/weapon team.

Marie felt relief surge through her, and laughed from the sheer amount of relief that she felt. Her laughter briefly trailed to giggles and Stein found himself slightly worried.

He broke the resonance quickly, and changed the subject to when she was planning on telling Azusa and everyone else, since she was beginning to show even more.

* * *

With Marie starting to show her pregnancy, even slightly, they decided to let the rest know. The only person that they had told in advance was Spirit, and he had agreed to keep the secret until they decided to tell everyone.

So now, with her clothing not fitting quite properly and her emotions constantly swinging, Marie was finally going to make some phone calls and announce it to their class the next morning. She was currently on the phone with Azusa, and Stein could hear her laughing and talking. He couldn't quite make out what she was saying, but her wavelength wasn't spiking in anger, so he assumed that Azusa was taking it well.

He heard a brief lull in the conversation, and then Marie started speaking again. He assumed it was to someone new and tuned the woman out, delving back into the tests that he was currently running. Simple blood work on a sample he had taken from Marie; he was testing for anything out of the ordinary.

And finding nothing.

He smiled a bit as he yawned, the last test done. He stood to find Marie and share the good news when he realized that he didn't hear her speaking anymore.

"Marie?" he called out into the empty lab.

Fear spiked through him when he realized that he couldn't sense her wavelength anywhere near him. He was out the door and searching for her a moment later.

* * *

He found her eye patch a few yards past the door of the lab, and a dozen yards beyond that he found one of her boots. He darted in that direction and nearly tripped about a hundred feet later when he almost missed seeing the boot that lay in his path.

As he bent to pick it up, sliding it under his arm with the other, he heard her laughter. His head jerked up and he finally focused on her wavelength. He rushed towards her, realizing belatedly that she had been moving away from Death City and into the surrounding desert.

He found her sitting with her feet dangling over a ledge, a grin on her face as she stared up and into the setting sun.

"_It's beautiful,"_ she whispered as he moved cautiously to her.

"You would be able to see more of the sky from the roof of the lab," Stein said slowly.

"Where's the fun in that? Stuffed up in one place, only able to see walls. Trapped. They'll eat us up if we stay." Her head craned over her shoulder, exposing the fading scars on her throat. "You told me that."

"I was wrong." Stein tried reasoning with her as he moved to sit beside her. He kept his movements slow as he slipped an arm around her waist, the worry plain on his face as he glanced down over the edge.

She just laughed.

"Marie?"

The smile fell from her face and she looked out over the expanse of desert. "Don't touch me. He won't like it."

"I'm right here, Marie." Stein tightened his grip on the death scythe's waist.

"Let me go." Her features contorted in hatred. "You're pretending to be Him, but He'll cut you into tiny shreds when He finds out that you've touched me."

Her shoes and eye patch fell to the ground as his other arm moved, his hand catching her chin and forcing the woman to look at him.

"I. Am. Right. Here."

She spit in his face. He let it roll down his cheek, not releasing the woman from his grip. He stood in a smooth movement, tugging her up with him and into his arms.

She screamed and flailed. The movement through his balance off slightly and he stumbled, forcing himself to step towards the lab and not the ledge.

The way that she had intentionally lunged as he picked her up.

"I'll tell on you!" she screamed out as he managed to move them both away from the edge. "I'll tell Him and He'll give me your heart!"

Tears streamed down her face as she broke into laughter. "He'll give me whatever I want you know," she said a bit more calmly. "He loves me. He told me so. He said that He'd give me his heart. But He won't, not really. He promised to not leave me and if He really did give me His heart He'd have to leave me."

Giggles flitted from her as she stopped struggling in Stein's arms.

"I did promise, didn't I?" Stein asked suddenly and he heard her quiet intake of breath. He forced a smile across his features and was rewarded by one of hers. "I'll make you another promise."

"Anything?" she asked with childlike wonder as he sat her down.

"Not anything. Something important." His gaze met hers and held it and she grinned even wider.

"What is it?!" she clapped her hands as she asked and he placed his hands on her shoulders to get her to stop.

She stood still, waiting on his answer as his hand slipped into the pocket of his lab coat and he stepped closer to her. He knew what she wanted, vague memories of the action still in his mind. He nuzzled against the scar on her throat, and felt her arms wrap around his neck. A moment later the hypodermic slid into her, his thumb depressing the plunger.

"_I'll always catch you."_

* * *

Marie opened her eyes sometime later, her hand immediately moving to cover her left eye. It didn't move and she took a deep breath as she realized that her arms and legs were loosely restrained.

"Marie?"

She turned her head towards Stein's questioning voice.

"Fr-Franken? Why am I tied down? Where's my eye patch?"

"Tell me your name."

"Marie Mjolnir."

"Who was the last person you were talking to on the phone?"

"Azusa… no, Spirit. I had called and asked him to go ahead and tell Maka."

Stein's hands undid the first restraint. "What was the last thing you said to him?"

"I… I'm not sure…" Marie's brow furrowed as he undid the other restraints, his long body arching over hers to reach her other arm.

"Try to remember," he coaxed her.

"He said… 'How's he taking it?' and I said… I said…" the woman trailed off. "I don't remember."

Stein just nodded. "You're not to leave the lab for the next few days, Marie. I'll call and cancel our classes."

She sat up and grabbed his lab coat as he walked past her. "At least tell me why, Franken!"

He stopped and met her eye, and he didn't have to. She knew then what had happened. Tears streamed down her cheek as it clicked.

"How?" she managed to get out.

A moment later his arms were wrapped loosely around her. "Training is also over, Marie. It is my hypothesis that you're still sensitive to Madness… and resonating with me brings you too close to it."

* * *

**A/N: Trying to get everything updated. Thanks for your patience! I don't own Soul Eater.**


	9. Shock

A week passed before Stein was comfortable with leaving the lab again. Marie spent most of the time in her room, her knees drawn up to her chest. Stein couldn't tell if she was crying or if she was laughing for the most part. He went in often only to find Marie in various states of sanity; he would stay with her through the worst attacks.

He would only leave when he felt his own grip on sanity being truly threatened.

He had never had to have someone depend on him for anything- Marie spent two days where she relied on him for everything; she wouldn't have eaten or slept if not for him. His hand fed her, and it was his thumb that depressed a plunger to inject a low-key anesthetic into her to make her sleep.

She would slip from sanity randomly, and Stein couldn't find a rhyme or reason to it. However, she seemed fine for the two days before they returned to teach at Shibusen, so Stein allowed it.

* * *

"Alright class, before I dismiss you for the day, Marie and I have some news that she wanted to share."

Laughter spread through the classroom, quiet and hushed, but its reason obvious even if none of the students said it aloud. Stein knew full well that they believed that he and Marie would eventually start dating, and he assumed correctly that they believed that he and Marie were announcing that.

He wondered briefly why they would announce something so simple as that as Marie spoke.

The class went deathly silent. There was barely even the sound of anyone breathing, and Marie stood expectantly in front of the class, waiting for the inevitable rush of questions.

Patricia Thompson broke the silence, and sent the entire class to laughing.

"But… don't you have to be married to get to have a baby?"

Marie blinked. Of all the students to ask a question like that, she never expected it to be one of the Thompson sisters; they had grown up on the streets without their father- why would Patty believe that? She smiled though, and answered her.

"No, sweetheart. This isn't the place for a lesson about the birds and the bees, but you don't have to be married to get pregnant."

"But…" Patty continued, "you're going to get married right? 'Cause every baby should get to have a mom and a dad!" The weapon smiled happily as her sister patted her shoulder and the answer came.

"No," followed a heartbeat later by, "Yes."

Stein and Marie answered at nearly same time, and Marie turned to face Stein, rage on her face. The scientist's head snapped to the side, a red handprint covering his cheek. The laughter in the class stopped immediately as Marie glared at them all before rushing out of the room.

Stein watched her go, confusion on his face.

"Professor?"

He turned to the class and readjusted his glasses. "Yes, Maka?"

"Are we dismissed?"

"Go on."

He sat there and watched them leave. His left hand rotated the screw in his head, wondering why his answer had upset Marie so terribly.

He had said yes.

* * *

He arrived home to find the door to the lab locked. He fished around in his pockets until he found his rarely used key and unlocked the door. He stepped in and realized immediately that there was no familiar smell of cooking food, no sounds of her moving about the lab doing this or that. He could sense her soul in her room, and he had no doubts about the fact that the door would be locked.

He stood in the entrance way, feeling like an intruder in his own lab. He felt an unfamiliar feeling well up in the pit of his stomach and he realized that he was nervous.

Perhaps afraid was closer to the correct answer.

He twisted the screw in his head and debated on whether or not to go upstairs and check on the death scythe. Eventually he just shook his head and walked towards the kitchen. Having been witness to more than one fight that had occurred between Spirit and Kami he knew that the best thing to do at this point would probably be to give Marie time to calm down.

Seeing as it was around the time that they would normally eat and she hadn't cooked, he decided that the best way to pass the time, and perhaps negate some of Marie's baseless anger, would be to cook. And so, for the first time in years, Stein stepped into his kitchen with the intention of cooking something more complex than ramen or heating up something prepackaged.

* * *

Marie sat on the edge of her bed, her fists clenched in the sheets and her head towards the ground. This position, unfortunately, left her staring at her stomach. It did nothing to alleviate the mixture of emotions that she felt swirling through her mind, just reaffirmed the cause of all of them.

She wrapped her hands around her stomach, feeling the growing life underneath them, the roundness of a belly that she had fought desperately for years to keep flat. Tears pulled at her eye again and she blinked rapidly to avoid letting them fall.

He had said yes.

She had said no.

He hadn't discussed it with her; he hadn't even asked her. What right did he have to just arbitrarily say that she was going to marry him?

She couldn't keep the tears from falling.

Who was she kidding? She had been ecstatic for a brief moment.

She collapsed sideways onto the bed, drawing her knees awkwardly to her chest as she cried; her stomach would soon be too large and would keep her from lying like that. She laid that way for a long time, eventually drifting off to sleep only to wake to the sound of someone knocking on her door and the smell of cooked food wafting through the air.

She sat up, dragging her hand across her cheek and wincing at the dried trail of tears. She stood and moved to her door and hesitated for a moment, her hand resting against it, before unlocking it. She opened it to find Stein standing on the other side.

There was a bowl of soup in one hand, balanced on a hot pad. Marie could clearly see the sheen of burn cream on the back of his other hand and she looked up to meet his gaze.

"I'm not very practiced at cooking."

She couldn't help but smile. The man in front of her had burned himself cooking, but had defeated how many kishin eggs without a single scratch? She went to reach for the bowl and he turned slightly.

"It's still hot, hence the hot pad. Will you be eating downstairs or in your room?"

Stein's voice was formal, almost cold. She just reached out and took the bowl, hot pad and all, before slipping her arm through his.

"I'll eat with you, Franken."

She felt him stiffen, but he allowed her to pull him behind her as she led them back down the stairs. He moved past her when they got down to the base and to the kitchen, ladling himself a bowl of the soup out and moving into the living room to sit down and eat.

She sat beside him on the purple couch, neither of them saying a word as they ate. She turned on the television and found something that they could both watch; she didn't mind watching the animals on the screen and she knew that Stein would enjoy the documentary. They sat in silence together until she started yawning. He stood, took her bowl and his, and walked into the kitchen before returning.

She expected him to walk past her and into his research lab. She never expected him to drop to a knee in front of her.

"Spirit explained to me what I could have done wrong," he began, "and I apologize. I had assumed that my marrying you would be something that you would demand once you found out that it was my child; I resigned myself to that fact."

The small smile that had been spreading across her face disappeared in an instant. "You _resigned_ yourself to having to marry me?"

Stein blinked and almost had to force himself to meet her gaze. He found himself at a loss for words.

"I do not need you to have to force yourself to marry me. I don't need you taking care of me!" Marie stood at the end of her statement, and Stein could see the pain that was lacing through her soul. She moved to brush past him, heading back towards her room, and Stein did the unthinkable.

His hand wrapped around her wrist and pulled her back to him. Marie's eye opened wide as she felt his arms wrap around her, holding her against his chest.

"I will not let anything harm you again, Marie. If marrying you is a way to make certain that happens, then it is what will happen."

His words rumbled in his chest, his voice low and serious. Marie looked up, and pulled away from him slightly so that she could see his face.

"I may not understand love, I may not be capable of it, but I do understand the desire to keep something in its original form. I understand the need to protect. It may be as close as I come to understanding love- and I will protect you, from everything."

Marie sobbed into his chest.

* * *

**A/N: Color me surprised, folks. This is leading, over Secrets, in the poll on my profile (which I do humbly ask that you take). However, I'm probably going to alternate between this and the second ranked story, just so I don't burn out. That means cast your votes! Every vote counts at this point.**

**Thanks for taking the time to read, and I'm sorry I've been so inactive recently. Love you all.**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	10. Overwhelming Grief

**A/N: This chapter is angsty. Very, very, very angsty. I want that to be known now, before you start to read. If you've had a bad day, or aren't in a good mood, or just cry easily, be wary.**

* * *

She came to him complaining of pain. He turned to face her, and took in her condition at a glance. She was slightly hunched over, her hand pressed against the small of her back while her other sat on her stomach. There were stress lines around her visible eye and he could see the pain in it as she rubbed her stomach. She had blossomed quickly during her 2nd trimester and now that she had entered her 3rd Marie looked ridiculous, her stomach as large as a watermelon.

It had become a joke that if Stein didn't know better, he would have sworn she was carrying twins.

He didn't joke now, just moved to her and laid his hand on her stomach, his eyes looking past everything to stare at the small soul that was nestled so close to hers.

"How long has it been hurting?"

"Just over a day… I was hoping that I had just slept wrong… but it has been getting worse…"

"We'll do an ultrasound."

She just nodded, trusting him to figure out if anything was wrong. He turned from her for a split second to grab his glasses from where they sat on his desk and she crumpled.

* * *

There was in IV in her arm, a damp rag on her forehead. She had a raging fever and Spirit sat beside her, a worried look on his face. Nygus sat across from him, taking Marie's pulse. Nearly the entirety of the EAT class was loitering around in and outside the lab; Spirit couldn't remember the last time that so many people had willingly come to Stein's foreboding lab.

Not that it was for a joyous occasion. Spirit's hands wrapped around Marie's left hand, squeezing it gently. She continued to sleep, unaware of the events of the day. With a heavy sigh Spirit lay Marie's hand gently on her stomach, blinking back tears, and went to find Stein.

The scientist was sitting in his lab, his head in his hands. A small, still form was covered by a white sheet on an operating table, and Spirit had to look away from it as he came in. Stein didn't acknowledge his entrance to the room. Spirit's hand fell on Stein's shoulder and the man still didn't respond.

"Marie needs you now, Stein, more than ever."

"Nygus is taking care of her." Stein's voice was low and empty, sending a chill down Spirit's spine.

"That's not what I mean, Stein, and you know it. Marie needs you to be there when she wakes up, to talk her through what's happened. She needs to know that she hasn't lost you too."

Stein didn't reply.

"You can't let her go through this by herself, she's-"

"I couldn't save her."

"Marie's fine-"

Stein gestured towards the table. "I couldn't save her. Despite everything I know, despite everything I've trained for and learned and all the precautions we've taken I couldn't save her. Do you know why, Spirit?" Stein's eyes were wild as he glanced over his shoulder at the other man before surging to his feet and moving to the covered form. His hands hovered over the sheet for a second before falling to his sides, his head bowed.

"Do you know why? Because I never anticipated a premature birth! I never imagined that I would need to have an incubator for a 6 and a half month old premature infant! I was able to get her on a respirator, but she froze to death, Spirit! I couldn't keep her body warm enough and she froze to death in my hands! She was gone before I could do anything about it!"

Silence fell heavily over the room as Stein's hands clenched into fists and he took a deep breath before continuing. "We did a checkup every week long before she was supposed to have one that often. She was taking prenatal vitamins- I personally made certain of the dosing. I didn't allow her to do anything stressful. I just don't understand."

"There are things we never can understand, Stein. Marie needs you now, though. Nygus is doing what she can for her, but you're the one that needs to be taking care of her. This is going to tear her to pieces."

Stein stood then, brushing past Spirit and out of the lab. He stopped outside the door to Marie's room, taking in the sight before him. Marie was pale, though her cheeks were splotched with red. An IV that he had set was in her arm. The most telling thing though was her stomach. While not as flat as it had been months ago, it was obvious that the woman was no longer pregnant.

Nygus looked up as he stopped in the doorway and stood. "She needs you, Franken."

"I know, Mira."

* * *

Stein sat with Marie, the others having left and forced the worried students to go with them. He had finished removing the IV and had just reapplied the wet towel to Marie's forehead, her fever having broken, and he looked around the bedroom as he sat there, his fingertips brushing against hers on the bed. Flowers filled Marie's room, and Stein was finding it a bit hard to focus with the varied scents assaulting his senses.

How did he tell Marie that he had failed to save their child?

He took a deep breath, the scent of lavender assaulting him and he stood abruptly to his feet. His hands trembled as he glared at the offending plant and before he realized what he was doing he had swept the plant off and into the floor. The vase shattered, water and flowers went everywhere.

It jolted Marie from her sleep. She sat upright with a small scream, her eye wide and unseeing as the damp cloth slipped from her face. His back was to her but he whirled around quickly when he realized what he had done.

"Marie, I'm sorry-"

He couldn't keep talking, Marie's hand was pressed to her stomach and she was looking down at it in wonder. He could see the emotions raging through her soul. After a short eternity she looked around the room and then up at him and he could see the question that she didn't want to ask.

"Marie, I-" he lost his voice and silence reigned in the room for a moment while he twisted the screw in his head. "I tried."

It took a long second for it to sink in.

Then she started to sob, drawing her knees up to her chest awkwardly. Stein stood at the foot of her bed, barely breathing the oppressively scented air. He didn't understand the swirling emotions that were assaulting him, but he did understand one thing.

He had failed. He had let something hurt Marie. His hands clenched into fists at how useless he felt at this moment. He was the cause of Marie's pain. He hadn't been able to save their child. He felt something welling in his chest that he couldn't place, his breathing staggered and heavier.

Marie looked up at him, tears in her eye and held her arms out to him. It was the same motion a distraught child makes to a parent, something that Stein had observed multiple times during his outings with Marie. He woodenly moved to her, sitting on the side of the bed, his upper body twisting awkwardly. She flung herself against his chest, a renewed bout of sobs erupting from her. His arms settled hesitantly around her.

He felt the change in her wavelength immediately. Even though she was sobbing and obviously distraught, it wasn't as intense the second that he wrapped his arms around her. He could feel some of the ache drain out of her. He could see the pain mute slightly. He didn't understand. His own wasn't abated in the slightest, now that he recognized the feeling as grief.

It didn't matter. If all of the pain and heartache that she was feeling could be transferred to him, he would take it all. He had caused it, and he would be the one to fix it.

His mind fixated on that as she tugged on his arm; he moved automatically, not quite aware of what was happening. A moment later he lay beside her in the bed, his arms wrapped around her. Her head lay cushioned on his shoulder and she hiccupped sobs. He tightened his grip on her, letting his own grief flow. He didn't cry, but he couldn't suppress the shudders that ran through his body, or the ache that seemed to fill his entire chest.

* * *

He stood in his lab, the still form that had been underneath the white sheet now bare for all to see. He had slipped away from her some time earlier, a singular thought lodged in his mind. The thing on the table would make her happy, if he could fix it.

He knew he could. He had fixed the other broke one. He had done so at someone else's behest, but was there really anyone more important than her? And it would make her happy, yes it would. It would make her very happy.

He lived to make her happy. A twisted smirk crossed his face as his fingers tightened around the scalpel he hadn't needed to use yet. He knew many, many ways to make her happy. The smirk slipped to a smile as he recalled the lines happiness had left across her body. An urge rushed through his body, and he nearly turned to go to her, but he restrained himself. They could celebrate later.

* * *

Marie rolled in her sleep, her arm reaching out to find him and she woke when she realized he had gone. She sat upright, her hands wrapping around her stomach and tears threatening to fall again. She sniffled, and forced herself to her feet, her hands scrubbing at her face as she wiped sleep and tears from it.

Marie walked through the lab slowly, still somewhat in pain. She heard Stein giggling before she saw him, and she opened the door slowly before peering into the lab.

Her eye opened wide even as her jaw dropped, her hands coming up to cover her mouth as he turned to face her, a maniac's grin on his face as a thin, piercing wail split the sudden silence.

_He _stood in front of her, their daughter squalling in his arms. Marie couldn't believe her eyes.

_She_ walked towards her family, a smile on her face and giggles in her throat.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you've enjoyed this update. I'll be trying to get Secrets updated next and then back to this :3**


	11. Silence

Spirit looked into the mirror and adjusted his black tie. His normal cross tie lay discarded on the chair beside his bed; he didn't believe that it was something that either Stein or Marie would want to see at that point in time. After a moment of thought he removed the crosses that he normally wore at his collar as well. Stein and Marie had lost their child; he would be there for them, and he would not bring anything of a spiritual nature with him. He knew that Stein was a man of science, and with science having failed them they didn't need his beliefs shoved in their faces.

He took one last look at himself in the mirror, satisfied with the way that he looked. He left his home and made a stop at a local restaurant to pick up food; he knew that neither Stein nor Marie would be up for cooking today. He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the man to finish preparing the food and paid quickly when it was done.

He arrived at the lab and hesitated for a moment. The front door was open, something that never happened. Normally the lab was sealed and locked, Stein opening the door only if he recognized the wavelength that was approaching or the wavelength was one that intrigued him. He doubted that Stein had already sensed him and opened the door; something felt off to the death scythe.

'_You're just overreacting, Spirit,'_ he chided himself. _'Stein knew you were coming today, he was watching and opened the door.'_

Taking a deep breath Spirit shrugged off the odd feeling he had and stepped into the lab. As usual it was dimly lit and Spirit traversed it more through memory than visual cues. He found the staircase leading upstairs and headed up, his bag of food in his hand. He stepped to Marie's room and stopped; it was empty.

Spirit furrowed his brow. He stepped out of her room and moved to the kitchen, sitting down the food before heading down towards Stein's favored research lab. He stopped with his hand on the door knob, something telling him that he didn't want to open the door, that what lay in that room was something he didn't want to see. That he needed to leave them to their grief, that he needed to _escape_.

He ignored his gut and pushed the door open.

Spirit would have dropped the food had he been carrying it. Stein and Marie were sitting against an operating table, something held between them in a white cloth stained with red. Matching twisted smiles painted both of their faces.

* * *

The smile fell off his face as the door opened and a man stepped into the room. His child was between him and her, and he wasn't about to let anyone touch either of them. He moved slowly and slipped the babe into her arms before surging to his feet.

His lab coat billowed behind him as he approached the man that had dared to interrupt his time with his family. His wavelength crackled around his hands as the man suddenly realized the danger he was in.

"Stein?" the man asked, taking a step backwards. "Stein, calm down. You know me."

"They're mine." His voice was cold and hard as he took a menacing step towards the man that had intruded on them. "They are mine!"

Her laughter came from behind him, causing him to turn his head and indulge her with a smile. She held their child in her arms, one finger gently trapped in the child's small fist. She was cooing at the child, and he turned towards her, the man behind him momentarily forgotten.

And then the man spoke again, shattering the peace that had momentarily settled over his soul at seeing her so happy. "I'm not going to take either of them away from you, Stein. I just came to check on you."

Her head snapped up, the smile gone in an instant. Her voice rose in a shriek, and the man gasped as he heard the child wail with her screams of, "He'll eat us all up! You have to save us!"

He whirled again, facing the man. "I will enjoy dissecting you."

"Stein, stop. You know who I am." The man moved backwards, his hand resting on the door to the room. "I'm Spirit. I'm your Senpai; you know me. Marie, you know who I am!" the man called to her.

"You're going to eat us up!" was her only response.

He lunged at the man, only to encounter a shut door.

* * *

Spirit panted on the other side of the door, shaking his head. _'I should have listened to that feeling. Now Stein knows I'm out here, he's lost it and so has Marie, and he wants to kill me because she's afraid of me.'_

Then it hit him. Marie had been cradling a baby. She had been cooing and cradling a baby. It couldn't have been theirs, could it?

He had seen the shrouded body. He had seen the pain that Stein had been trying to hide. There was no way. The baby had died. Then how?

With a curse Spirit bolted away from the door, running full out both from Stein and towards Shinigami-sama.

* * *

He slammed his hands against the door, confused for a moment how the man had trapped them in the room. Some vestige of himself rose up though, and his hand reached out to the door knob, twisting it and flinging it open. He could hear the man's pounding footsteps and he followed. If he let the man escape, he knew that he would only bring more, and they would tear what was his to pieces.

There was metal in his hand, he realized as he ran after the retreating footsteps. High pitched, hysterical laughter escaped from him, his fingers tightening around the metal in his hand. He could use it, yes. He could use it to stop the man from leaving this place. He would use it.

With a renewed bust of speed he caught up to the man just as he was leaving the door and escaping into the bright light of the outside. He collided with the man, taking them both to the ground. The man fought him, kicking and struggling. The man nearly escaped, but then he found an opening and shoved the piece of metal that he held in his hand into the man's side. The man screamed, the blood that was flowing from the wound as he pulled the piece of metal out matching the man's hair.

He laughed. The metal fell to the ground as he looked at the man that he was sitting on, and he laughed. It was all so hilarious. The man had come with the intention of tearing it all apart, and now he was the one that was going to tear the man apart. His body shook and he fell when the man's fist collided with his face. He lay on his side on the ground for a moment, shock taking a second to wear off.

The man was already running, a trail of blood following him. His eyes narrowed as he watched the man reenter the place that was his, heavy metal doors swinging shut behind the man.

They were locked. He screamed in rage, his fists slamming into the metal.

* * *

Spirit panted. His side was on fire, and he knew that he would have yet another scar. He was thankful that the scalpel hadn't been dragged up or down, the incision was relatively small. He could feel the vibrations from where Stein was pounding on the door, and he found himself thanking God that he had locked the door behind him.

'_Now if only Stein doesn't remember to use his wavelength anytime soon. Yeah, right. Fat chance.'_ With that thought Spirit darted down the hallway and back to Marie.

If only he could get to her, straighten her wavelength out again, he could end this before Stein got back into the lab. If Marie was sane, she could bring Stein out of it. It all hinged on him being able to reach Marie though. If he couldn't get her to focus enough and come out of the madness though, he was doomed.

He shook any thoughts of failure from his mind as he ran back down the halls and towards the research lab that he had left Marie and the baby in. Stein's angry pounding echoed through the lab's empty halls behind him. He could hear the baby's cry as he came skidding around the corner, and he stopped in the doorway, looking at Marie.

She was holding the child with her hands under its arms, the baby's legs dangling. It was screaming and crying. She looked up at him and the cold look in her eye chilled him to the bone.

"It won't stop screaming."

Spirit's heart thudded in his chest as the child screamed out pitifully. He took a careful step towards her and he could see Marie's hand tighten on the child, and she shook it. He darted forward, but before he could get to her she surged to her feet, cradling the squalling baby to her chest.

"Just SHUT UP!" she screamed, and Spirit realized that she had the baby's face pressed flat against her chest, muffling its screams. He hesitated as he heard a tremendous crash- the sound of the lab's front doors being blown apart by Stein's wavelength.

"Marie, she has to breathe!" Spirit screamed out as he reached her, his hands reaching for the child.

He hadn't expected Stein to get to him so quickly. Even as his hands wrapped around the tiny baby's sides Stein slammed into him. Marie's laughter filled the air, mingling with the child's shrieks. Spirit blinked the stars from his eyes just in time to see Stein's hand coming at him, the meister's wavelength crackling ominously around it.

_Pain._

Spirit couldn't breathe. His chest refused to move, his lungs straining against a great weight to try to inhale. He tried to exhale, but all that did was add to the weight that seemed to be crushing his chest. His eyes creaked open again to see Stein standing over him.

He could barely hear Marie's voice screaming for Stein to shut the baby up, to make it stop screaming, to make everything happy again. His blood was pounding in his ears, and he finally was able to cough as Stein stepped away from him, moving to Marie and the baby.

He took the baby from Marie and she just screamed louder, her tiny hands contorted into fists. Spirit found himself transfixed as he stared at the small baby, her hair covered with a light fuzz of blonde hair, her small eyes open and staring at the man that was now holding her. Stein moved carefully, gingerly, Marie watching silently as he was unable to hush the child.

Finally Marie's patience snapped. "Just make it shut up!"

Spirit could see the hesitation in Stein's movements, and even as he struggled to his feet, staggering as he moved to the meister, shouts of "No!" on his lips, he knew that he was too late.

Stein's hands moved to the child's throat in a jerky, hesitating motion. "Anything to make you happy."

There was a loud snapping sound, and the child's screams stopped.

* * *

**A/N: I actually wrote two different endings for this chapter; they diverge after Spirit leaves the room that he finds Marie and Stein in the first time. If you're interested in reading that version (which is unfinished) just let me know and I'll send it to you in a PM.**

**I know that this may seem harsh- but the child's fate was always to die. I had intended to have it die due to a birth defect, but after hours of searching and not finding one that I wanted to use, I settled on this approach. **

**I know that some of you may not like this; but please, remember, they are both lost to the madness, and Stein has always been a violent person, and Marie has been infected by **_**his**_** madness. Regardless, I hope that you enjoyed this.**

**/Lialane**


	12. Fractured Memories

Spirit sunk to his knees, forgetting the danger that he was in, as the sudden silence overwhelmed the room.

Marie broke it, her face a happy smile as she laughed and wrapped her arm around Stein, resting her head on his shoulder while she dangled her fingers in front of the silent infant.

Stein's face was blank, the infant in his arms, Marie beside him. His eyes were unfocused and unseeing. His voice was anguished, and brought silence to the room again.

"_Are you happy now?"_

The infant's head lolled to the side, tilting weirdly on its neck as Stein turned to face Spirit. The death scythe looked up at the man from the floor, still in too much shock to move, to run, to flee. Stein took a step towards him, his arms tightening on the small infant.

"You'll hurt her if you squeeze too tightly," Marie said with a smile, gingerly removing the infant from Stein's arms. "It's so much better when she isn't screaming. I hope she'll always be this well behaved."

Stein's arms fell to his sides and the scientist's posture was that of a defeated man. His head hung to the floor, his hands open and limp. He spoke quietly, but Spirit heard him, _"What have I done?"_

"Stein?"

The man's head jerked up, and Spirit realized in that moment that he wasn't safe, that Stein may be fighting for sanity, but he was nowhere near sane. The look in the man's eyes was one of pure hatred and anguish, overrode with madness.

"You ruined it all!" the scientist screamed out suddenly, darting forward and at the stunned death scythe. A moment later his wavelength surged over Spirit and Spirit's world went black.

* * *

Spirit opened his eyes much later to a decided lack of pain. He was alone in the room, which he realized after a moment was his old room. It was full of boxes now, though a space large enough for a bed remained; it was upon that bed that he laid. He sat up slowly, noting that his shirt was gone, and checked himself for new scars.

He found none, though the incision on his side had been stitched closed.

He looked around for a moment and found his shirt laying on one of the boxes. The tear from the scalpel had also been stitched up. He stood and pulled the shirt on, wincing a little bit as he pulled the fresh stitches. He stepped out of the room, and tried to remain silent as he crept through the halls of the Lab.

"That's not necessary, Senpai." The death scythe jumped, his heart pounding, as Stein stepped around the corner. "I'm aware that something happened; whatever it was is past. Marie and I are fine now."

Spirit wondered if Stein retained any of what had happened. There was a melancholy in the scientist's voice that Spirit had never heard before. He almost asked before he thought better of it, changing his question at the last second to, "I'm glad to hear that then."

"How is your side?" Stein asked as he stepped towards Spirit.

The death scythe took a step backwards and Stein followed him. There was a look in Stein's eyes that Spirit didn't quite understand, and a moment later he found that the scientist had cornered him in the room he had woke up in, the door shut behind them.

"What happened, Spirit? What did we do?"

"I just came over to check on you, and I think that the grief had gotten to you. I don't remember too much, Stein, just that Marie was afraid of me again."

Stein's hands clenched into fists. "I know that you're lying. Tell me."

Spirit swallowed. "You attacked me because of her. Zapped me a few times, the last one I didn't wake up from until now. I tried to run," he raised his arm to show Stein the stitched tear, "and you caught me before I could."

Stein was quiet for a long moment. "There's more and I know it, Spirit. I… I remember something. I remember holding Violet. I remember her screaming! Then there's a sound I can't quite remember, and the next thing I remember I am sitting on the floor; Violet in my arms, Marie beside me, leaned up against an operating table. Marie was asleep." Stein took a deep breath. "Violet's neck was broken. That didn't happen before."

Spirit ran his hand through his hair. "I don't know what happened, Stein. I don't. I'm sure her screaming was just a hallucination. You can't bring back the dead. Maybe her… corpse… got knocked off the operating table and it happened."

Stein seemed to be staring through the weapon and Spirit forced himself to suppress the shudder that ran through his body as Stein said quietly, _"I suppose you're right, Senpai."_

* * *

The funeral was a somber affair. Marie sobbed against Stein the entire time, the scientist like a rock; his face blank as he stared off into the distance, his arm wrapped around Marie's shoulders.

Stein knew that there was something that Spirit wasn't telling him, but his memories of that night were so disjointed and broken that he didn't know what it could be.

Marie had insisted on a preacher for the ceremony, and Stein tuned the man out. What had God done for them that science could not? Nothing. He didn't see the point in having the man come, but he caved because it would make Marie happy.

'_Are you happy now?'_

Something twisted in Stein's mind, and his hand gripped Marie's shoulder. He could almost remember. He shuddered slightly, wondering suddenly if he truly wanted to remember.

* * *

Spirit left the funeral and went straight to Chupa Cabra's, drowning himself in drink and trying to block out his memories.

* * *

Two weeks passed. During that time Stein tried unsuccessfully to comfort Marie. He simply had too little experience, and at the end, they were both more often than not angry at the other. It came to a boiling point when Marie slapped him, his hand on her shoulder as she cried over Violet's death again.

"I trusted you!" Stein's hand fell to his side, his eyes wide as she continued, "I trusted you and you let her die! You may as well have killed her yourself!"

She regretted saying it the moment it came out of her mouth, her hand clamping over her mouth and her eye wide. Before she could apologize he had brushed past her and was gone into the night.

* * *

The door to Chupa Cabra's opened and all eyes turned to the late visitor. The last person that anyone had expected to see standing framed in the doorway was Franken Stein, the meister's hands clenched in fists and his cold gaze sweeping the room until it settled on a very drunk Spirit Albarn.

Long strides carried him to the weapon's side, and his fist connected cleanly with Spirit's jaw. The man's drink fell from his hand as he was slammed onto his side on the couch he was sitting on, Blair just barely moving out of the way. Before anyone could react Stein had Spirit by the collar and had dragged him to his feet. His green eyes bore into Spirit's blue ones, and the weapon swallowed hard as he realized that something must have clicked in the scientist's mind.

He wondered briefly if Stein was still sane before the scientist's knee collided with his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Stein released his collar then and the weapon hit his knees, just then becoming aware of the screaming of the bar girls, and the unmistakable sound of the barkeep's shotgun being loaded.

"D-don't shoot him," Spirit managed to force out, spitting blood onto the floor. He looked up to see the shotgun trained on Stein, the barkeep barely five feet from the seething meister.

"_You lied to me. You knew what happened. You knew what happened to Violet!" _Stein hissed out, kneeling down to Spirit's level, his hand tangling in Spirit's collar again. _"You knew exactly what happened to her!"_

Spirit met his gaze boldly. "I've been trying to forget dumbass, and hoping that neither you nor Marie ever remembered!" Stein's fist collided with his jaw again, causing the death scythe's head to snap to the side before he was released. Spirit shook his head to clear it, realizing that the barkeep had the barrel of the shotgun pressed against Stein's back.

"Don't shoot him. We'll be leaving now," Spirit said as he fished around in his back pocket for his wallet. He stood a bit unsteadily before pressing a wad of cash into the man's hand; shock covered everyone's faces as he left the club. Stein followed a moment later to the sound of the barkeep saying that he was calling the police.

Spirit stopped outside the door and leaned against the wall, dragging his sleeve across his lips and wincing at the taste of blood in his mouth. Stein stood beside him, his hands clenched into fists, and Spirit could tell that the meister was still pissed.

"It was for your own good, Stein," Spirit said quietly as he began moving away from the club. There was no response, and Spirit turned to look at the man. "Stein?"

"'You may as well have killed her yourself,'" Stein said. "That was the last thing that Marie said to me. She said that she had trusted me and that I may as well have killed Violet myself. I did. I killed my own daughter. I killed Marie's daughter," the man's hands clenched into fists again, "and why? Because I lost it and put everyone at risk. My daughter, Marie," his voice was low as he looked at Spirit before letting his gaze fall to the ground, "you. What happen when it happens again, Spirit?"

"You've controlled it for years, Stein."

"And now I haven't," the man said bitterly.

"You'll be strong, Stein. You always have been. Marie needs you to be strong now."

Stein's head shot up. "Marie." Stein darted back towards Lab, Spirit hot on his heels.

* * *

Stein hit the door to the lab, knocking it open, his eyes focused on Marie's soul. He was up the stairs and around corners before Spirit could even finish coming up the stairs and the weapon found Stein standing awkwardly in the doorway to Marie's room.

The woman had her face buried against Stein's chest, her arms wrapped around his waist as she sobbed against him. Stein's arms were held out and away from her, but as Spirit came around the corner he lowered his arms to settle them around Marie.

"_I thought you had left me. I can't lose you too... I'm so sorry, so sorry. I know you did everything you could…"_ she whispered brokenly against his chest.

Stein met Spirit's eyes. They both knew in that instant that they could never let Marie know the truth.

* * *

**A/N: So I was going to update Secrets yet, wrote out most of a chapter and realized that I didn't like anything I had written. I started work on a request, and this wouldn't leave me alone, so Resonance got updated first. I hope that you enjoyed it. Thank you all for reading, and thank you especially to those of you who review to let me know what you think; I appreciate everything.**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


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